Supersonic lubricant homogenizer



May 7, 1957 J. HALL SUPERSONIC LUBRICANT HOIVIOGENIZER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 30, 1955 FIG.

R O T N E V N JOHN L.. HALL lllllnuss Flo e AT'ToRNEY May 7, 1957 J. l.. HALL sUPERsoNIc LUBRICANT HOMOGENzER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 30. 1953 FIG-.2

FIG.4

FIGVB INVENTOR JOHN L. HALL ATTORNEY United States Patent O SUPERSONIC LUBRICANT HOMOGENIZER John L. Hall, Tyler, Tex.

Application October 30, 1953, Serial No. 389,227

2 Claims. (Cl. 259-1) The present invention relates to lubricating oils and more particularly to the homogenization of lubricating oils includin-g the process, apparatus, and product.

Lubricating oils such as motor and cylinder engine oils have been compounded from mineral oil with various additives such as 5-l0% of tallow to obta-in better adherence of the lubricant to the met-al surfaces and to produce greater lubricating effects than the mineral oil alone. Animal oils such as neats-foot, lard, sperm, and fish oils as well as vegetable oils and chemicals are sometimes used, but the process of mixing and evenly dispersing these various ingredients homogeneously with the mineral oil has not been entirely satisfactory. The particles or globules of the additive oils have remained relatively large and therefore have not adhered properly to the bearing surfaces, Iand the large size has not permitted the globules to pass efficiently into limited clearances. Further, in the use of the oil, particularly with high bearing speed and hi-gh temperatures, the additive oils have broken down and the lubricating effect -has been materially reduced and therefore the prior art products have not been entirely satisfactory.

An object of the present invention is to overcome these difficulties and to provide a lubricating oil having the desired lubricating characteristics in which the viscosity of the oil and the lubricating qualities are retained over a ysubstantial range of temperatures and pressures, `as well as lthe high speeds of the bearing surfaces.

A further lobject of the invention is to provi-de a lubricating oil which adheres to the bearing surfaces and minimizes the friction and heating caused by the internal friction of the oil and by the rubbing of the bearing surfaces.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method for producing a lubricating oil in which the non-mineral additives are broken down to minute size having substantially uniform characteristics throughout.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for processing 'the lubricating oil to produce the uniform homogenization thereof.

A 'further yobject of the invention is to provide apparatus, method, `and a resulting product of lubricating oil in which the lubricating oil is treated by supersonic vibrations of an intensity sufficient to break down the particles to a -fine particle size in the order of micron and homogeneously dispensing the particles throughout the oil body for obtaining the optimum lubrication properties.

The method and apparatus of the present invention involves the treatment of a lubricating oil having a large proportion of mineral lubricant as well as a :smaller proportion of an additive such as animal, fish, or vegetable oils in which a housing having a chamber is provided for receiving the mixture of lubricants and a member is provided within the chamber for vibration at sufficiently high frequencies and with sufficiently high intensity to break down the large particles to a size in which such large particles may adhere to bearing surfaces and in which such particles may lie between such bearing surfaces to prevent metal to metal contact.

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Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of one form of the homogenizing apparatus showing the oil supply tank, a pump, one form of homogenizer, a storage tank for homogenized lubri cant, and a station for lling cans;

Fig. 2, a sectional View of one modification of the invention in which a magnetostrictive rod vibrates within a housing for homogenizing lubricating oils;

Fig. 3, a diagrammatic view showing the electronic system for energizing and controlling the vibrations of the magnetostrictive rod shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4, a section taken substantially on line 4-4 of Fig. 2 showing Ithe magnetostrictive rod in the housing;

Fig. 5, a diagrammatic vshowing of the piezoelectric system for producing vibrations of the piezo crystal; and

Fig. 6, a section taken on line 6-6 of Fig. l showing the mounting of the electrodes and the piezoelectric crystal within the housing.

Referring more particularly to IFig. l, a storage-tank 10 arranged for receiving lubricating oils to be processed is connected by means of a pipe 11, pump 12 and pipe 13, for supplying oil to a housing 14 in which means are provided for treating the oil withl high frequency vibration of suicient intensity to homogenize such oil. An outlet pipe 15 from housing 14 carries the oil to a storage reservoir for treated oil from which an outlet pipe 17 carries the oil to can-filling apparatus generally designated 18. Such can-filling apparatus may include a measuring device 19, a Iturret 20 on which turret the cans 21 are carried past the measuring device for filling and such cans are closed by any suitable means.

One form of the treating apparatus 14 shown in Fig. 2 includes a tubular cylindrical housing 22 of brass or other non-magnetic material. A generally circular metal bar 23 of Monel metal or the like has longitudinal grooves 24 formed around the periphery and conical recesses V25 at each end. An annular groove 26 centrally of the bar communicates with the longitudinal grooves 24. A boss 27 having a threaded aperture is provided on housing 22 and set screw 2bv extending therethrough has its inner end engaging the annular groove 26 .for retaining the bar in the housing.

End flanges 29, 29 are provided at the ends of the housing and closure members 3l), 30 of brass or the like are secured to the end flanges 29 by bolts 31 in iiuid tight relation. Each end closure includes a projection 32 which extends into the conical recess in the conical recesses 25, 2S in the ends of the magnetostrictive bar. Lubricating oil to be treated is supplied to the housing 22 by means of a duct 33 extending into a boss 34 communicating with the annular groove 25 which communicates with the grooves 24 in the magnetostrictive rod 23, Some lubricant may pass between the rod and the housing. The treated lubricant passes from the housing through ducts 35, 3S to a surge tank 36 from which surge tank the treated oil passes through a pipe 37 to the treated oil storage tank.

Surrounding the housing 22 are induction coils 38 and 39 having a common lead 4o and separate leads 41 and 42 which are broken oit to simplify the drawing, but such leads are connectedre'spectively to conductors 40', di', and 42 shown in Fig. 3.

A variable condenser 43 is connected between conductors 41 and 42 and a block condenser 44 is connected in series with conductor 42' and by means of conductor 44 the grid of a vacuum tube 45. The plate 52 of the vacuum tube is connected to conductor 41.

The cathode of the vacuum tube is heated from a snitable source of energy 46 through a circuit including a resistance 47 in series therewith. A leak resistance 48 including contact 49 controls the bias of the grid. A source of current 50 through suitable leads and a switch 51 controls the voltage on 4the plate 52,

From the above description it is evident that the induction coils 38 and 39 are energized to produce vibrations in accordance with the adjustment of the electronic system to produce powerful forces on the magnetostrictive rod 23 compressing and elongating the rod and transmitting `the vibrations at a suiciently high frequency and intensity to the lubricating oil passing through the housing 22 to break down the large particles or globules.

The circuit is made adjustable for frequencies of from 8,000 to 100,000 cycles per second and a desired frequency used for homogenizing lubricating oils has been found to be 9,000-l0,000 cycles per second. Instead of using batteries as shown in the diagram, an electric generator has been found to be satisfactory and in a model made to the scale of Fig. 2 a 5 kilowatt generator has been satisfactory.

It has been found that substantial heat is produced by the apparatus with a large input of energy at a frequency of 9,000 to 10,000 cycles a second and to dissipate such heat cooling fins 54 are provided which may be split to increase their eiciency. It is desirable to provide a water jacket around the cooling tins to increase the rate of heat dissipation, but such jacket has been omitted for simplicity.

Induction coil 38 is retained in position on the circular housing 22 by means of a fixed iiangc S5 and an adjustable split ring 56 which may be secured on the housing 22' for maintaining the coil in position and similar fixed ring 57 and split adjustable ring 58 may be provided for securing induction coil 39 on the housing.

The split rings S6 and 58 are secured by bolts or the like 59 passing through the segments of the split ring in a well known manner.

Referring to Figs. and 6 a crystal 60 having piezoelectric elfects may be composed of tourmaline Rochelle salt, quartz and the like and an example of such crystal is cut from the mother crystal in such manner .that two parallel surfaces of the plate are perpendicular to the selected polar axis so that the crystal has a Curie cut. The crystal 60 is held between brass buss bars 61, 62, 63, 64 and such buss bars are mounted in shallow grooves in` insulating material 65 within the oblong brass case or housing 14 and such brass bars are electrically connected to a high frequency oscillation circuit as shown in Fig. 5. Bar 64 is connected by means of a lead 66 to the plate of a tetrode vacuum tube 67 and the buss bar 62 by means of a lead 68 is connected to the plate of tetrode 69. The cathodes of the Vacuum tubes are energized from a convenient source 70 and the grids and screen biased by suitable sources of current as shown with suitable resistances where necessary. The inductance 71 and variable condenser 72 are provided for tuning the circuit with the oscillation frequency of the piezoelectric crystal 60,

It will be understood that the ycrystal and buss bars are inclosed within the brass housing 14 and the lubricating oil is passed through such housing by means of the pump 12, inlet pipe 13 and outlet pipe 15 so that the oil passing through the housing receives supersonic vibration of a frequency and of an intensity suiiicient to break up the large particles to produce the desired characteristics in the product. Supersonic frequencies in the. range of 9,000 to 9,000,000 may be used and a desirable frequency for homogenizing the oil being treated in this apparatus is approximately 50,000 cycles per second.

The mixtures of oil being treated include mineral oil and a fat or oil of animal, fish, or vegetable origin. In one form the oil may include 5-l0% of tallow added to the mineral oil and the mixture homogenized in the magapparatus and such treated oil has been found to have greatly improved lubricating qualities over oils heretofore used and it is believed that this is due in part to the breaking down of the tallow into small particles thereby greatly reducing internal friction and preventing breakdown of the large particles during use. The product resulting from this treatment is a heavy-duty oil in which the viscosity and lubricating effects are maintained over a greater range of temperatures with much less pyro decomposition.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawings and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. Apparatus for treating mixtures of mineral and animal lubricants comprising a tubular housing, a metal bar mounted in said housing and fixed centrally to the tubular housing and free at its outer ends, a closure plug fixed at each end of the housing and having an inwardly extending projection, the bar having a recess at each end which receives the corresponding projection, said rod having a central annular groove formed therein and a plurality of longitudinal grooves in the periphery of said rod, a stud extending through the housing into the annular groove for securing the Vrod to the housing, -an induction coil mounted on said housing between the center and each outer end and fixed to the housing, means for supplying lubricants into the housing and into the central groove of the rod and means for removing lubricants from the outer ends of said housing, and an oscil-,

lating electrical circuit including said induction coils for producing compressive waves on said rod and homogenizing the lubricant material in the housing, and means for cooling the housing to prevent overheating thereof.

2. Apparatus for treating mixtures of mineral and animal lubricants comprising a tubular housing, a metal kbar mounted in said housing andiixed centrally to the'tubular housing and free at its outer ends, a closure plug lixed at each end ofthe housing and having an inwardly extending projection, the bar having a recess at each endl which receives the corresponding projection, said rod having a central annular groove formed therein and a plurality of longitudinal grooves in the periphery of said rod, a stud extending through the housing into the annular groove for securing the rod to the housing, an induction coil mounted on said housing between the center and each outer end and xed to the housing, means for sup-l plying lubricants into the housing andvinto the central groove of the rod and means for removing lubricants from the outer ends of said housing, and an oscillating electrical circuit including said induction coils for pro; ducing compressive waves on said rod and hornogenizing the lubricant material in the housing.

References Cited inthe filepof this patent l UNITED STATES PATENTS l v Lewis June 14, 1864 OTHER REFERENCES Emulsication with Acoustic Waves, by Alexander in Paint Mfg., May 1951, XXI, 5, pages 157-161 and 175.

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